Sale: CNG 67, Lot: 10. Estimate $1250.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 22 September 2004.  Sold For $1100. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CELTIC, Northern Gaul (Comata). Uncertain tribe. Circa 58-50 BC. AV Quarter Stater (1.35 gm). S-Trophy Type. Undefined parallel banding; S in center / Rooted tree (trophy?) with bar each side; rosette and pellets-in-annulets above, three connected pellets-in-annulets and bent line below. Cf. D&T 255-260; cf. Scheers 120-125; cf. de la Tour 8729-8732; cf. Hobbs 435-444; cf. Van Arsdell 67-1-3; SCBC -; CCI 02.0472. Near EF, nice sharp strike. Extremely rare, with only four others recorded. ($1250)

Found between Ardleigh and Colchester, Essex. From Michael Richards Collection, Chris Rudd List 64, no. 65.

This coin belongs to a series that is well deserving of serious research. Both English and French scholars have contributed to the publication of numerous varieties, but one really needs a full synthesis of current knowledge. The issuing tribe is uncertain, but the Ambiani, Morini, Cantiaci, and Trinovantes have all been postulated. The central type is variously described as a Celtic tree or a Roman trophy; and the numerous obverse symbols (line of pellets, pellet-in-ring, eye, floret, digamma, various letters and monograms, and the present S, possibly a symbolic thunderbolt) have not been properly categorized.